Art Trap Productions

Louis Trapani's blog

This past Saturday, the 21st of August 2010 was not only our seasonal meet up on Second Life, it also marked the 5th anniversary of the Doctor Who podcast, Doctor Who: Podshock. (We used our last meet up last May to mark the 25th anniversary of the Gallifreyan Embassy).

People from all corners of the world came together to have fun and to meet Doctor Who: Podshock hosts, correspondents, supporters, and other Doctor Who fans. As usual, Victor led the much anticipated TARDIS tours, a staple of our meet ups on Second Life in which he takes a TARDIS load of people to other Doctor Who themed areas of Second Life. This time, he even allowed me to pilot a Jon Pertwee style TARDIS for one trip. It was very exciting indeed.

The TARDIS Tours took us to Who Island which had a replica of Stonehenge with 'underhenge' which we discovered the Pandorica (and it opened)! We also got to see the console room seen in this year's 'The Lodger' episode and as always the tour concluded in the Doctor Who Museum. The virtual museum chronicles all of Doctor Who throughout its long history.

As reported in Doctor Who: Podshock, the Doctor Who spin-off series, Torchwood is being relaunched in the US on the Starz network.

The HollywoodReporter.com has an article reporting that name of the rebooted series in the US is Torchwood: The New World. Like last year's acclaimed Torchwood: Children of Earth I would suppose. It is to be ten episodes which to my understanding are telling a story much the same way as Children of Earth did with its five episodes run.

The new story will follow a CIA agent (Rex) and analyst (Ester) who tackle an alien-related global issue. Torchwood, having been destroyed and disbanded, is 'like a legend now ... it's like something that's ceased to exist and is now spoken of only in whispers.' Soon, Rex and Ester are on the run and are seeking out the help of Captain Jack and Gwen.

One of our LA Correspondents (I can't say which just now) give me word early Monday morning of this article in the LA Times concerning the release of the Blu-ray and DVD of the latest series of Doctor Who (starring Matt Smith). We always suspected it would be November as that has been traditionally the release month of the series box sets in the past, just in time for the holiday shopping season. According to this article by from the LA Times, that date will be November 9, 2010.

The date was 23 April 2009. The Telegraph runs the following story about Gillian Anderson being cast as The Rani in Doctor Who (see link and quote below). Since that time we have seen a year of specials starring David Tennant and a whole new series starring Matt Smith. Where's Gillian Anderson? We are still waiting...

I meant to post this a couple weeks ago, but with series 31 wrapping up and with all of our live shows reviewing it all at the time, I never had a chance.

Even in this day of podcasts and other new media, the art of the fanzine is still around. As evidence is the launch of a new one covering Doctor Who, Fish FIngers and Custard.

In the premiere issue, it features a review of The Eleventh Hour, an article about the infamous 'PBS hijacking incident', Invasion Convention review, 'Cracks', an original 11th Doctor story, 'The Doctor in Wonderland', "It Could Have Been a Spin-off", a column by actor Harry Sedgewick, and what else?

Oh yes, an interview with some bloke named, Louis Trapani. There's much more, so check it out.

Over the past few months we have been discussing having some sort of special anniversary event to mark the occasion this year. You may remember last year we held an event in Manhattan for our 24th anniversary in which we paired up with a monthly DWNY meet up and brought the lovely Daphne Ashbrook (Dr. Grace Holloway from the 1996 Doctor Who movie) to the event. See Happy Anniversary to Us… for further details.

We would like to something special for our 25th as well. It would be an event in the NY area, perhaps on Long Island as that is where it all began, yet still be accessible to our friends in NYC. Maybe a dinner event? Would you be interested in attending?

It was a quarter of century ago today, as hard as it is for me believe, is when the Gallifreyan Embassy began. Unbeknownst at the time, it was the day after the Discovery Channel was launched. It was also the day after the launch of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-51-G) which marked the first Arab and Muslim in space (payload specialist Sultan bin Salman bin Adulaziz Al Saud). Yes, it was 1985. Ronald Reagan was in the White House, Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer while NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after leaving Apple Computer.

Just two weeks before we went Back to the Future in the theaters, the Gallifreyan Embassy of Long Island officially began.

This past Thursday (May 20, 2010), Doctor Who: Podshock recorded a live show at the book launch party for The Mythological Dimensions of Doctor Who. Taking place at Fiddlesticks Pub & Grill in Manhattan (NYC), Ken, Billy and I arrived to see the venue was swarming with activity. Having passed it many times, I believe I have a vague memory being a patron there some years ago. I can recommend their veggie burgers (Ken and Billy equally recommend their other burgers).

If you listened to our interviews with Sarah Douglas in Doctor Who: Podshock 189 and MyAnna Buring in Doctor Who: Podshock 200, you know that both are appearing in the movie, Witchville premiering on Syfy tomorrow night, the 22nd of May 2010 (9/8c).

You may also remember that our very own Doctor Who: Podshock Correspondent, Amy Krell had a hand in the production as a producer, so we urge you to watch or set your DVR for it.

A couple months ago, the Examiner posted a video interview of Doctor Who: Podshock consisting of Ken Deep, James Naughton, and myself conducted by Chris McKeon. This time, I am on the examination table so to speak in this latest interview with examiner.com once again by Chris McKeon. In it, I speak about Doctor Who, Doctor Who: Podshock, the Gallifreyan Embassy, and some of our other shows. This interview was conducted about two weeks prior (mid-March) of the BBC premiering the first Matt Smith as The Doctor story of new series of Doctor Who, The Eleventh Hour.

Join the insanity with the insanely great hosts Steve Stacy and Sean Homrig of the TARDIS Tavern as we review 20th anniversary season kick off episode, Arc of Infinity with Peter Davison as the 5th Doctor. Not only do we discuss this 1983 story, but Doctor Who in general and how I happened to come across it all those years ago.

Last week I had the privilege of being on and joining my fellow co-host James Naughton on the Cultdom Collective podcast. The episode is a Gallifrey One preview show. Yes, the Doctor Who convention is a year away now at this point, my friends at Cultdom are getting a head start for those planning on attending next February in Los Angeles, CA.

Originally all I had done was record a short comment that was to be played on the show with James. Then the scheduling gods were shinning upon us, because they were recording at a time when I was able to join in on the fun, unbeknownst to James. They were playing my pre-recorded clip I made about meeting James in person for the first time at Gallifrey 20 when suddenly I was on the show myself.

Last month while Doctor Who: Podshock was in Los Angeles, CA at Gallifrey 21 for our annual live on stage there, the tables were turned on us a bit when Chris McKeon interviewed us (Ken Deep, James Naughton, and myself) for the Examiner.com.

For those that follow me on Twitter, may know that I sometimes use AudioBoo to record short audio reports while on the road. It is usually while attending a conference or convention or some other event, though not limited to such. (If you want to know more about AudioBoo, back in 2008, I posted this blog about AudioBoo: Boo! AudioBoo! Mini Mobile Podcasting!)

This year's Gallifrey One convention (Gallifrey Blackjack 21) was no exception.

There's only one more week until Gallifrey 21, the annual premier Doctor Who convention of North America taking place in Los Angeles, CA. Once again, Doctor Who: Podshock will be there in force.

We are holding a Meet and Greet on the Thursday evening before the convention ("Gallifrey Eve," if you like) at the same hotel. It is at 10pm PST on the 25th of February. It is late enough to allow many of people flying in on Thursday to check into the hotel and get some dinner beforehand. The Meet and Greet is an informal (leave the tux at home) gathering where you will have a chance to come by and say hi, meet the Doctor Who: Podshock hosts, correspondents, and regular contributors to the show. Learn more about our Meet and Greethere. If you plan on meeting up with us there, please RSVP here.

If you are a Podshock Supporting Subscriber and you are going to Gallifrey 21, please let us know if you haven't done so already. In addition to the Meet and Greet, we would like to plan something special to do with supporting subscribers at Gallifrey 21. What that might be, depends on how many will be able to join us. It is because of the support of supporting subscribers we are able to bring you the show and do these events. Please if you haven't done so yet, please consider supporting us by becoming a Podshock Supporting Subscriber. It doesn't cost much and it means so much to us.